


Mark(less)

by FancyMeetingYouHere



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Jackson's cool, M/M, Mark's quiet and protective, just dumb boys and their soulmarks, the rating's for a curse word or two, there's no sex or anything, untill he's not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:33:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22467934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FancyMeetingYouHere/pseuds/FancyMeetingYouHere
Summary: Jackson overlooks a pretty important detail which prompts Mark to take his shirt off.Somehow, it all works out.
Relationships: Mark Tuan/Jackson Wang
Comments: 18
Kudos: 181





	Mark(less)

(Your soulmate’s name, aka your soulmark, will appear somewhere on your body on your sixteenth birthday. The placement and size of the mark resonates with your soulmate’s personality, meaning they can cover an entire leg, or just the half of a finger. For Jackson, it never mattered what size his soulmark was, simply that someone, somewhere, existed just for him, and he’d get to make them happy and be their best friend for life (or possibly a bit more). He has been living towards his sixteenth birthday since he was five years old, and the day has finally come.)

Jinyoung plops down next to Jackson with a grin. “So, who is it?”

They’re on the field, the rest of their all-boys class laughing and talking as they sit around while the teacher sets up the goals for a game of soccer. The sun is warm for March which prompted their teacher to usher them outside and into ‘nature’. Or, what constitutes as nature in this concrete jungle they call home. Despite the lack of proper trees or anything ‘nature-y’, it’s usually one of Jackson’s favorite classes, but today he sits with a perpetual frown, shooting his friend a side glare.

“I didn’t look,” he lies, “soulmates are stupid, anyway.”

Jinyoung’s eyebrows disappear into his hair. “Say what? Coming from the guy who’s been counting the days to his sixteenth birthday for _months_ because you were so excited to know who would be your ‘perfect person’.” Jinyoung frowns. “Is it someone we know? Someone we don’t like?”

_If only._

Jackson glares at the grass. “Just drop it.”

There’s a loaded silence, then Jinyoung leans a little closer and hesitates. “You- you _do_ have a mark, right?”

“…” Jackson wonders if he can skip gym by pretending to be sick. With the way his stomach is twisting it'll hardly even be a lie, more like a convenient excuse.

Jinyoung lets out a painful breath. “Oh, Jackson, I’m so sorry.”

Jackson shoots him a glare, but can’t stay mad when Jinyoung looks pained and scared and _honest_. His best friend knows precisely how much Jackson _loves_ the idea of soulmates, how he already had a whole list of things he wanted to do with them. But all of his effort was for nothing, will amount to nothing, because Jackson is the exception to the rule. He blinks suddenly wet eyes at the ground and shrugs, then shakes his head.

“I couldn’t find anything,” he confesses with a hollow voice. “I checked three times, but I can’t find a name.”

And if there’s no name, then there’s no soulmate, because they’ve already died.

Jinyoung puts a hesitant hand on his shoulder. “Do you want me to look? Maybe it’s just in a stupid place? You know soulmarks tend to conform to the person’s personality, so maybe they’re just really timid and the mark is equally as small?”

The hope is fragile and painful, and Jackson can’t help peeking at his friend and croaking. “You think so?” He hadn’t dared to ask his parents for help with looking, worried his mother will only be hurt in his stead if Jackson turns out to be mark-less, but Jinyoung, as sassy as the boy can be, is Jackson’s most trusted friend.

He’s also kinda his only friend, but that’s another story.

Jinyoung gives him a small smile and squeezes his shoulder. “I mean, I don’t know anything for sure, but I’m here for you no matter what.”

Jackson gives him a tight-lipped smile and a nod. Never before has he been as grateful for Park Jinyoung as right now. Especially when a sudden laugh from the side breaks their moment and has them snapping their heads to Taesung. The boy is a head taller than everyone, and making Jackson’s life miserable seems to be his life’s mission. Usually it’s little things; stealing Jackson’s pencil case or books, messing with his locker, letting the air out of his tires when Jackson comes by bike in summer, but occasionally, the boy is feeling particularly sadistic and wants an audience.

It seems like today is one of those days.

Jinyoung is already fuming, Jackson knows from his friend’s narrowed eyes, but harsh words never stopped this bully. The last thing Jackson wants is Jinyoung with another black eye, so he quickly stands up and puts himself between the two, watching Taesung warily and internally already sighing. This horrible day is about to get worse.

“Well, how about that,” Taesung sneers loud enough for their whole class to easily overhear, even without wanting to. “Little Jackie doesn’t have a soulmark? Really?” His voice adopts a childlike pitch, Taesung pushing out his lower lip in a grotesque pout. “My soulmate’s going to love me and we’ll live happily ever after!”

It stings but Jackson throws out a strong arm to stop Jinyoung when the younger shoots up behind him. He whispers a fierce ‘don’t’ at his friend, grateful beyond belief when Jinyoung bristles with anger, but listens.

Taesung drops the horrible imitation and sneers. “Guess you’ll just be a pathetic loner forever, _Wang.”_

Jinyoung wants to say something scathing, Jackson knows. It’s almost cosmic intervention when the teacher’s voice rings out before the petty argument can turn into a fist-fight, Jinyoung’s potential words almost undoubtedly too sharp and smart for Taesung to deal with verbally, which would result in the only other form of defense the other has. Jackson has often jumped in between and taken the punch, which is possibly why Jinyoung has been restraining himself more, but the younger can only take so much.

“Jung Taesung! Must we have another little chat with the principal today? I’m sure I can find some time after six to squeeze you in?” The man shouts with a raised eyebrow.

The threat works well enough and Taesung shoots one more nasty look before walking away. It’s not enough to repair the damage, to fix the shaky breaths rattling in Jackson’s chest, but he waves away the teacher’s quiet option of taking a sick day. The last thing Jackson wants is to sit at home and stare at the wall. Kicking a ball around and running at full speed sounds like the better option, Taesung or no.

Jinyoung still sends him a worried glance, and a positively _murderous_ look at Taesung, and the teacher wisely refrains from putting the three boys in the same team. After some groaning and the general ‘but I’m _much_ better when playing with so-and-so’, the class is divided into two teams.

“Alright,” the teacher points toward the yellow jerseys in a pile near the goal on the right. “Jaebeom’s team will be the jerseys today!”

Which means Jackson and Jinyoung too, and the whole group is in the process of turning when a rather unusual voice speaks up. It’s low and accented and _extremely_ familiar.

“Can we do shirtless instead?”

Jinyoung gives Jackson a surprised look, then they all turn to face Mark Tuan. The boy is a little older than most, but got held behind because he moved to Korea at thirteen and had some trouble with the language. He’s also every girl’s (and quite a few boy’s) secret crush, receiving more flowers on secret valentine than he usually knows what to do with. But Mark Tuan is the picture of humble and kind, despite the fact it’s no secret he comes from a wealthy family, and Jackson has found himself inordinately fascinated by the older for quite some time. He doesn’t have a crush, no matter how much Jinyoung teases him, but let’s just say Jackson is bisexual and Mark is _hot_.

Which means Jackson has zero qualms with agreeing to being a shirtless team, because Mark has never, _ever,_ shown any kind of skin, going so far as to change in a shower stall, and Jackson can’t say he isn’t curious.

The teacher’s eyebrows shoot up at Mark’s request. “I’m not sure,” he hesitates, “it’s not overly warm, but-” with a shrug he turns to the rest of the team, raising his voice. “Does anyone oppose to taking their shirt off?”

There are a few grumbles, and Jackson would go as far as to say Mark looks _nervous_ about someone denying his request. The older bites his lip and Jackson pointedly ignores how that makes him feel things. The one drawback of soulmates is that crushes tend to lead nowhere, which is why Jackson _does not_ have a crush. He doesn’t. Pinky promise.

In the end, no one ends up raising their hand in protest, and Jackson believes it’s probably because a lot of the guys just want to see _Mark_ without a shirt. Jackson sorta does too. Because of aesthetic and curiosity and all that platonic stuff. Right.

The teacher shrugs again and blows his whistle to get the attention back. “Alright, shirts on the left, shirtless on the right. Jaebeom and Daehyun are captains for the day, so, rock-paper-scissor on who starts with ball-possession!”

The mentioned boys quickly jog to the middle, Jaebeom taking his shirt off easily to a few whistles and the boy smirks. Jackson rolls his eyes as Jinyoung’s cheeks grow red.

“Close your mouth, perv,” Jackson chuckles, deepening Jinyoung’s blush.

The younger yanks his shirt over his head to hide his cheeks. “I was just lost in thought,” the younger retorts heatedly. Jackson chuckles some more, also shedding his shirt and feeling the small nip of early spring bite into his skin. It’s definitely not too bad, especially since they’ll be running all over the field in a bit, but Jackson can’t quite suppress a shiver.

They throw their shirts to the side and Jackson pushes Jinyoung’s shoulder with a wide smile. “Think you can keep your eyes on the ball instead of Jaebeom?” he teases.

Jinyoung throws him an unimpressed glare. “As if you didn’t agree to go shirtless just because _Mark_ suggested it.”

Which, as Jackson’s blush confirms, he totally did.

The impressed whistles that Jaebeom got don’t compare to the chorus of shouts and hoots that suddenly burst out, and Jackson will deny to his dying day that he grows nervous and warm at the thought of a shirtless Mark. Even Jinyoung cranes his head to see the older boy.

The first thing Jackson catches is a flawless back, muscles defined but lean under the milky skin. They shift in ways that make Jackson’s mouth run dry when Mark balls up his shirt and throws it to the edge of the field, then the boy runs a hand through his red hair and turns around with a grin.

Jackson can’t figure out if there’s a joke, or if perhaps Mark is enjoying all the attention, especially when the older yells out sharply. “Hey, Taesung! You wanna repeat that stuff you just said?”

But then a hush falls over the field, and Jackson’s earlier admonishment of Jinyoung’s staring comes to bite him in the ass because his chin _drops._ His eyes are glued to Mark’s chest, but not because the other boy looks insanely good. (There’s that too, what with the toned arms and small though visible pecks, and don’t get Jackson started on the stomach which looks both hard as rock and soft to the touch.)

It's not the beauty, but the _name._

Because Mark’s puffing his chest out, grinning as he displays the most ridiculous, over the top, _bold,_ soulmark known to man. Stretching from shoulder to shoulder, and curling all the way from his nipples to his collarbone, **Jackson Wang** is splayed over Mark’s chest in fiery red with gold curling at the edges. The shade matches Mark’s hair, and Jackson shockingly realizes that Mark dyed his hair last week to _match his soulmark._

Which is Jackson’s name.

Jackson is Mark’s soulmate, and Mark is showing it off with something akin to pride on his face. Murmurs break out over the field, Taesung’s face a hilarious shade of red as he shuffles in place under Mark’s glare. After too much silence, Jinyoung elbows Jackson in the side and giggles an entirely _loud_ , “holy shit, Jackson, he’s your soulmate!”

As if that isn’t _utterly obvious_ yet.

Mark catches Jackson’s eyes and saunters over, the grin never leaving his face but an edge of nervousness creeps in. He stops some two steps from Jackson and bites his lip, a questioning look on his face.

Jackson imagines he looks like a tomato, and there’s no way he can be blamed for possessing _zero_ sense of control when _Mark Tuan_ is _biting his lip_ while _wearing Jackson’s fucking name on his chest._

Hot doesn’t really begin to cover it, and Jackson blurts out thoughts before filtering them because this level of look-but-can’t-touch is the definition of torture. “But I don’t have yours.”

A flicker of doubt flies across Mark’s face and Jackson really wishes there was a bridge nearby so he can throw himself off it. Foot, mouth; insert. Jinyoung’s muffled groan drags him out of cussing himself to oblivion, and even Mark looks startled when Jinyoung grabs Jackson out of nowhere and spins him in place.

“Wha- Jinyoungie!” Jackson’s voice _screeches,_ (death by embarrassment, anyone?), but Jinyoung simply slaps his hand on Jackson’s neck, shoving his hair up and forcing Jackson to keep his back to Mark.

“You’re a moron,” Jinyoung says in a voice filled with endless exasperation, then adds with a little more warmth. “It’s on your _neck_ , you idiot.”

_…fucking what?_

Jackson freezes when he hears the most adorable giggle come from behind him, followed by Mark’s soft whisper. “It’s really me.”

This time Jackson whirls around by himself, slapping Jinyoung’s hand away and sending his smug friend a glare without heat, then focuses on the most ethereal smile in existence. Mark’s eyes twinkle, his teeth on full display as he watches Jackson like he needs to document every inch of him. Jackson understand the feeling.

“You’re really mine,” Mark breathes out, smile never breaking, “You’re really, _actually_ , mine.”

Jackson shrugs, not trusting himself to speak because the whole situation sinks into his lungs as he realizes _my soulmate isn’t dead, never was, because it’s been Mark Tuan all along. My soulmate is Mark. I’m Mark’s soulmate. Holy fuck._ A smile begins to stretch across his face, tears of happiness and relief tickling his eyelashes as he drinks in Mark’s joy.

“I’ve kinda always been yours, you know,” he confesses with a smile, not even caring how sappy he’s being. Especially when Mark blushes at the words and Jackson thinks he can be sappy for the rest of his life if this is the result.

Jaebeom’s voice rings out and breaks their moment, obvious laughter in his words. “Hey lovebirds! We gonna play or what?”

Mark’s grin returns, eyes boring into Jackson’s. “You wanna beat his ass? As soulmates?”

There’s only one ‘he’ Mark can possibly mean, and Jackson barks out a loud laugh, eyes falling on Taesung as he unconsciously grabs Mark’s hand. “Oh, hell yes,” he smirks.

(They win 5-2, and Jackson’s never seen anything more gorgeous than Mark Tuan flicking his hair out his eyes, laugh stretched across his face, and glistening chest heaving; a chest emblazoned with **Jackson Wang**.

Mark proudly wears low-cut tank tops to school from that point on, and Jackson thinks he falls in love a little more every day.)


End file.
